With the recent roster moves, and it looking more and more likely that Evan Longoria will begin the year in Durham, I’m updating my 25-man roster prediction.
| SP | Scott Kazmir |
| SP | James Shields |
| SP | Matt Garza |
| SP | Andy Sonnanstine |
| SP | Edwin Jackson |
| RP | Troy Percival |
| RP | Al Reyes |
| RP | Dan Wheeler |
| RP | Gary Glover |
| RP | Trever Miller |
| RP | Juan Salas |
| RP | Jason Hammel |
| C | Dioner Navarro |
| C | Shawn Riggans |
| 1B | Carlos Pena |
| 2B | Akinori Iwamura |
| 3B | Willy Aybar |
| 3B/IF | Joel Guzman |
| SS | Jason Bartlett |
| IF | Ben Zobrist |
| LF | Carl Crawford |
| CF | B.J. Upton |
| RF/DH | Rocco Baldelli |
| RF/DH | Cliff Floyd |
| OF | Jonny Gomes |
As you can see, the big changes I’ve made really only include dropping Longoria from the 25-man roster and including Willy Aybar and dropping Kirt Birkins in favor of Trever Miller. Most everything else remains the same for me. I’ll keep this updated as we go forward.
February 11th, 2008 at 1:29 pm
I don’t mind keeping Glover, but I’d rather see Balfour get the chance. He’s got the strongest arm out of all the candidates for the bullpen, and the best K-rate. Glover is the veteran, so Maddon might go with him instead, but I enjoy watching Balfour work in relief. I know his BB-rate is high also, but that’s what you get sometimes with guys who have such live arms. I like the fact that you kept Aybar as well. He seems to be a doubles machine, and it doesn’t hurt that he’s a switch-hitter. I’m getting excited to see what he can do, even though I can’t wait to see Longoria swing it. If Aybar does great, then you may have another Ty Wigginton situation-maybe he brings us a valuable arm to help with a playoff push. This year should definitely be the most interesting we’ve ever seen in Tampa Bay.
February 11th, 2008 at 2:49 pm
Jim Hickey has pretty much already said that Glover is a lock to make the team, which is why I’ve included him in favor of Balfour or Dohmann.